Interlocking Cookware Vessel and Lids

ABSTRACT

An article of cookware has a lid that locks by rotation with respect to the rim, wherein the lid and the cookware article each have opposing handle that engage to form the lock mechanism. The gripping portion of the handle can be a short U shaped handle or an elongation handle or both, as for example in the case of a frittata pan. Alternative, the lid can be perforated for draining water from pasta or vegetables after cooking or blanching.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to cookware articles, and in particular to pots and pans which interlock or are deployed with interlocking lids.

Cookware deploying locking lids are well known, and a frequently used in either pressure cookers or with a perforated lid so that water could be drained from the cookware, leaving behind solids, such as pasta, noodles and the like.

However, in order for the cooking ware article to except locking lid, both lid and the cookware article must have additional features or appendages. The special features or appendages, typically being formed on a vertical portion of the lid rim and the vertical sidewalls of the cookware article, increase the cost or limit the versatility of the cookware. That is, a lid modified so that engages and interlocks with a particular article of cookware does not fit as well and hence is less usable with another article of cookware.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 282,252 to Asbury et al., which was issued Jul. 31, 1883, discloses a lid that can lock to the top of a cookware article. The lid has drain holes. The lid has side appendages or ears that are designed to pass under or through the bail ears of the pot. U.S. Pat. No. 931,209 issued to I.E. and R. Q. Lincoln on Aug. 17, 1909 discloses a wire frame that is inserted with a fry pan to aid in flipping food over to cook the second side. The device used a single over lapping handle at one end of the frame while the opposite ends of the wire frames are hinged together. U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,603 disclosures a design concept taught in older patents where L shaped depressions are formed in the periphery of the lid wall that receive a depression formed in the upper wall of the cooking vessel just below the rim. U.S. Pat. No. 1,259,182 issued to P. M. Wildy on Mar. 12, 1918 discloses another form of draining lid.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,328,558 which issued to S. A. Brooks on Jan. 20, 1920 discloses a cookware vessel adapted to engage a mating lid having a plurality of drain holes. The lid has a central post handle and curvilinear flange extending partway around the rim thereof that is intended to engage a mating portion of the cooking vessel rim when the former is rotated by the central knob handle.

Other means of interlocking a perforated draining lid on a cookware vessel by rotation thereof include U.S. Pat. No. 1,997,509, issued to F. Betteridge et al. on Apr. 8, 1935. A bayonet style mount is used where the cooking vessel has a pair of outward laterally extending pins from the side wall just below the rim. The lid extends downward over the portion of the cooking vessel having the pins, which slide in the L shaped cutouts in this downward extending wall of the lid. Thus, the rim is initially pressed downward so that the pin enter the vertical portion of the L shaped brackets and is then rotated to that the pin enter the horizontal portion.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,065,855 issued to T. C. Edwards on Nov. 27, 1962 discloses a cooking vessel with a draining with a perforated draining lid that is slid forward to engage connectable elongated handle at one side of the lid and vessel and an overhanging protrusion at the opposite side of the vessel rim from the elongated handle. The elongated handles engage via a pin that extends upward from the lower handle into a slot in the upper handle.

The use of a single pair of overlapping elongated handle which overlap when the rims engage by rotation is typical of many pressure cooker designs, such as that used in U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,041, issued to M. A. Elexpuru on Jan. 5, 1988. However, the lid and pressure cooker wall also have mating laterally extending portions to retain and press against the surface of an O-ring respectively.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,004 B1 which issued to Wooderson on Nov. 30, 2004 discloses a pair of sauté pans that interlock at the smaller or U shaped helper handle. The pans have elongated handles opposite their respective helper handles. One helper handle is smaller that the other so that is nests therein, with a portion of this smaller handle extending below the larger helper handle so they can be gripped simultaneously. However, it is less convenient to grip this combination than an ordinary helper handle, as the opening in the larger helper handle, through which the user's finger would reside, is now occluded by the smaller helper handle. Further, both helper handles and the elongated handles must be gripped tightly when inverting the pans to prevent their disengagement. However as the helper handles engage, and not the elongated handle, the construction is not suitable for draining fluid, as the force of a fluid on the lid is liable to disengage the upper vessel. Accordingly, this concept of locking lids held together by their handles is undesirable for draining fluids, as it requires a firm continuous gripping of the handle pairs which do not engage.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide cookware and lids configured to interlock together, for the purposes of either draining fluid through the hole in a lid or flipping the pan, where the pans, vessel and lid do not requires, laterally extending pin, protrusion, cut outs and the like which preclude the use with or as ordinary cookware.

It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a system of cookware articles and lids that can mate in locking engagement but do not appear to be different than ordinary lids and cookware, and hence can also be used with ordinary cookware with sacrifice in form, function or appearance.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In the present invention, the first object is achieved by providing a an article of cookware comprising, a first fluid retaining vessel having a bottom and substantially upright side walls attached thereto terminating in a upright circular rim, a second closure for said first fluid containing vessel, having a second downward facing circular rim adapted to compliment the upright circular rim of said first fluid retaining vessel, at least a peripheral portion forming an exterior wall for the attachment of at least one handle. Each of the first fluid retaining vessel and second closure have a pair of handles disposed to face each other, each handle being attached to the exterior wall of the vessel/closure by a flange portion of each of said handle, with each of said handle further comprising a grip portion attached to said flange portion wherein at least a part of the grip or flange portion of one pair of handles attached to at least one of the first fluid retaining vessel and the second closure extends above the rim and another part of the grip or flange portion. The extension of the grip of one of the vessel and closure allows the grip to engage or locket with a portion of a corresponding grip on the other of the vessel and closure

A still further aspect of the invention is characterized in that the wherein the handles of the first fluid retaining vessel and the closure can engage to resist separation from each other when attached at their complimentary rims when one is rotated with respect to the other.

A further aspect of the invention is characterized in that the second closure of such an article of cookware is a lid having drain holes on at least a portion of the surface.

Yet another aspect of the invention is characterized in that the second closure is a cooking vessel that is selected from the group consisting of a stock pot, a paella pan, a saucier pan, a crepe pan and a sauté pan.

The above and other objects, effects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A-D are perspective views of the series of steps in attaching the lid to a cookware article in a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A, D and C are isometric elevational views of the article of cookware and lid in FIG. 1 whereas FIGS. 2B and 2E are expanded views of portions of FIGS. 2A and 2D respectively.

FIG. 3A-C are perspective views of the series of steps in attaching the two cookware articles in another embodiment of the invention, wherein either cookware vessel can serve as the lid for the other vessel so the pan can be flipped during cooking.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an alternative shaped cookware handle for deployment in either the embodiments of FIG. 1 or FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating an intermediate stage in the engagement of the lower vessel with the upper vessel or lid.

FIGS. 6A and B are cross-sectional elevations of FIG. 5 taken at reference lines A-A and B-B respectively.

FIG. 7A, D and C are isometric elevational views of an alternative embodiment for an article of cookware and lid whereas FIGS. 7B and E are expanded views of portions of FIGS. 7A and 7D respectively.

FIG. 8A-E are elevational views of alternative embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 8, wherein like reference numerals refer to like components in the various views, there is illustrated therein a new and improved Interlocking Cookware Vessel and Lids, generally denominated 100 herein.

In accordance with the present invention, a lower cooking vessel 110 has a bottom 107 and surrounding and connected side walls 108 that extend substantially upward to a terminate at rim 103 to define a fluid retaining vessel or container. Cooking vessel 110 also has a first set of handle portions 111 and 111′ on opposing sides connected with rivets or other attachment just below rim 103. Further, there is a mating lid 120 having rim 133 to engage rim 103. The mating lid 120 has a second set of handles 121 and 121′ on opposite sides, being attached to the lid 120 just above rim 133, in the orientation shown in FIG. 1B-D (with the concave portion of the lid 120 and rim 103 facing downward. FIG. 1A show the lid 120 before insertion on vessel 110, facing upward. In FIG. 1B, the lid 120 is inverted and rotated slightly, such as by handles 121 and 121′, with respect to the handles 111 and 111′ of the lower vessel 110. This allows the rim 133 of the lid 120 to then rest or engage the rim 103 of the vessel 110, as shown in FIG. 1C, defining one embodiment of the cookware article 100.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1D, the lid 120 is rotated with respect to the cooking vessel 110 of cookware article 100, whereby the first and second sets of handle 111 and 121, as well as 111′ and 121′ engage such that lid 120 cannot be removed without rotation in the opposite direction. Further, when the user holds the grip portion 114 of the handle pairs that overlap vertically, such rotation will be prevented. Further, it is preferable that lid 120 has a plurality of drain holes 127 on at least one side, but preferably two sides (the second being 127′) as shown, that can be used to drain water or other fluid from the cookware article 100 when the lid 120 is thus locked. The mated engagement of handle pairs 111/121 and 111′/121′ precludes the lid 120 from being urged forward by fluid draining through the lid 120 when the vessel 110 is tilted to drain through holes 127.

It should be appreciated with reference to FIG. 4-5, which apply to the embodiments of FIG. 1-3, that during the engagement of each of the two handle portions 111 and 121 for grasping the adjacent side of the vessel 110 and the lid 120 respectively, a first part of the lid handle 120 portion extends over a part of the vessel handle 110 portion while another or second part of the vessel handle 110 portion extends over the lid handle 120 portion to interlock the handles. Thus, each of such handles for interlocking upon rotation can be considered to have three components or portions joined in succession. With respect to handle 111, a first or flange portion 112 is generally connected at the first side by rivets to the upright sidewall 108 of the cooking vessel 110. The second side or opposing side of the flange portion 112 is connected to a middle portion 113, with the opposite side of the middle portion forming the grip region 114. It should be understood the grip region 114 is intended to encompass all manner of shapes that can be grasped by the hand of the user, although it is more typically either an elongated appendage or stick, as shown in FIG. 3A-C (ref. number 114), or a round to oval shape (FIGS. 1, 2 and 5).

In another embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 3, the lower cookware article 110 is a sauté pan having an elongated handle 111′ as well as a generally U-shaped helper handle 111 opposite the elongated handle 111′. The lid is now an inverted cookware article 120, which also has an elongated handle 121′ and U-shaped helper handle 121, and optionally serves as either a lid or a second sauté pan. This embodiment is particularly useful as a frittata pan, as once the eggs used for the omelet or frittata are sufficiently solidified in the lower pan 110 and the pan combination is flipped using the helper handle and the elongated handle so that the upper half of the eggs can be cooked using the upper pan 120, which is now inverted to become the lower pan of cooking device 110. Most preferably the vessel 110 and 120 are of comparable volume so each can be used separately as a fry pan or crepe pan. However, an alternative use in the upper vessel 120 shown in FIG. 3 with the appropriately sized larger vessel in the form of a deep stock pot shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, grip portion 114 of the handle 111 is an arc or U shape connected to the middle portion 113. Each of the various handle embodiments generally have a middle portion 113 is a transition between the grip 114 and the flange 112 portion of the handle 111 (for the lower vessel 110) and thus can be considered to be constructed as part of the flange 112 or the grip 114 or be so styled to appear to be a separate entity. In any case, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the upward extension of the grip 114 from the flange 112 (as caused by the upward tilt of middle portion 113) is such that when the handles 111/121 and 111′/121′ on opposite side of vessel 110/120 (or vessel and lid) will mate upon rotation of one respect to the other. Thus, the grip portion 114 of the lower vessel 110 will be above the grip portion 124 of the upper vessel 120 even though the flange portion 122 of the lower handle 111 must be attached at least level with or below rim 103 of the lower vessel 110.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 5, the flange portion 112 must be connected to the cookware article 110 below the rim 103, however the middle portion 113 while generally connected to the flange portion 112 below the rim 103 extends upward past the rim 103 before it terminates with the grip portion 114 of handle 111. Further, it is also preferable that a region of the middle portion 112 that is above the rim 103 has a reduced width compared to at least one of the grip or flange portions, with the bay or gap 109 thus formed between the grip 114 and flange 112 to receive the middle portion of the 123 of the handle 121 on the opposing lid or another cooking vessel 120. Thus, the user by gripping the upper 114 and lower 124 grip portions of both pairs of handles 111/121 and 111′/121′, the rotation of one vessel with respect to the other, is precluded.

Generally, it is desired that the second short handles on opposing sides of lid having comparable shape to short handles. Thus, generally speaking the handles in each set have a complimentary notch with respect to the opposing handle to receive its un-notched portion. Further, it should be appreciated that the handles on the lid can be arranged so that the lid can be inverted when inserted on the vessel 110, with the concave side facing up.

More preferably, the handles on opposite sides of vessels 110 and 120 are the same, and also identical with handles of the mating vessel or lid. However, with reference to each of the handles, while they are generally asymmetric about the handle axis, that extends through the center of the vessel or lid, due to bay 109, it is most preferable that the projected combination of the mating handle, is fully symmetrical about this axis.

Thus, although locking draining lids are known in the art, the instant invention does not require appendages or cut outs or ridges on the internal surface of the lid or cooking vessel, thus making them easier to clean maintain, eliminating the need for special vessels where storage space is minimal. However, deployment of the invention by no means restricts the use of an additional locking means on inside of vessel.

Further, FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of the invention, when the lower vessel 110 is optional either a paella pan or a saucier pan, having 2 short U shaped handle on opposite sides and having a relatively low profile, with the upper vessel either having a similar or shallower depth as shown. The upper vessel 120, shown being inverted in use as a lid, can have the same or a different shape for a different cooking or serving function.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to provide a set of cookware vessel in which each vessel can also serves as a lid, the set including a stock pot (FIG. 8A), a paella pan (FIG. 8B), a saucier pan (FIG. 8C), a crepe pan (FIG. 8D), a sauté pan (FIG. 8E) and more preferably at least one draining lid (FIG. 8F), each vessel having two interlocking handles as described with respect to FIG. 1-3.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. An article of cookware comprising, a) a first fluid retaining vessel having a bottom and substantially upright side walls attached thereto terminating in a upright circular rim, b) a second closure for said first fluid containing vessel, having a second downward facing circular rim adapted to compliment the upright circular rim of said first fluid retaining vessel, at least a peripheral portion forming an exterior wall for the attachment of at least handles, c) where each of the first fluid retaining vessel and second closure have a pair of handles disposed to face each other, each handle being attached to the exterior wall of the vessel by a flange portion, d) wherein each of said handles further comprises a grip portion attached to said flange portion wherein at least a part of the grip or flange portion of one pair of handles attached to at least one of the first fluid retaining vessel and the second closure extends above the rim and another part of the grip or flange portion. e) An article of cookware according to claim 1 wherein each handle of the first fluid containing vessel and the second closure have a grip portion attached to said flange portion wherein at least a part of the grip or flange portion of each pair of handles attached to both the first fluid retaining vessel and the second closure extends above the rim thereof and another part of the grip or flange portion.
 2. An article of cookware according to claim 1 wherein the handles of the first fluid retaining vessel and second closure can engage by rotation to resist separation from each other.
 3. An article of cookware according to claim 1 wherein said second concave closure is a second cooking vessel.
 4. An article of cookware according to claim 1 wherein the second cooking vessel is selected from the group consisting of a stock pot, a paella pan, a saucier pan, a crepe pan and a sauté pan.
 5. An article of cookware according to claim 3 wherein the first cooking vessel is selected from the group consisting of a stock pot, a paella pan, a saucier pan, a crepe pan and a sauté pan.
 6. An article of cookware according to claim 1 wherein said second closure is a lid having drain holes on at least a portion of the surface.
 7. An article of cookware according to claim 6 wherein the drain holes on the surface of said second concave closure is distributed in two portions on opposite sides thereof, one portion containing larger drain holes than the other portion.
 8. An article of cookware according to claim 1 wherein the grip portion of the handle of at least one of the first vessel and second closure is at least one of a closed loop and an open arc.
 9. An article of cookware according to claim 1 wherein the grip portion of one handle of said first vessel is an elongated outward extending projection and other handle on the opposite side of the vessel is at east one of a closed loop and an open arc.
 10. An article of cookware according to claim 1 wherein each handle has an axis of substantial symmetry that extends in the radial direction with respect to the geometric center of the cooking vessel, wherein a transition region connects the flange and grip portion thereof, the transition region being disposed on one side of the axis of symmetry on the first vessel and on the other each side of the axis of symmetry on the engaging handle of the second closure when engaged therewith.
 11. An article of cookware according to claim 10 wherein the transition region is angularly disposed to elevate the grip region of the handles of at least one of the first vessel and second closure above the rim thereof.
 12. An article of cookware according to claim 10 wherein the transition region is angularly disposed to elevate the grip region of the handles of the first vessels above the rim thereof and the handles of the second closure above the rim thereof.
 13. An article of cookware according to claim 2 wherein the first vessel has an elongated handle and a short handle on the opposite side and the second closure also an elongated handle and a short handle on the opposite side, each being of comparable volume and shape so that at least one can be used as a fry pan.
 14. An article of cookware according to claim 2 wherein said second closure is a second cooking vessel.
 15. An article of cookware according to claim 14 wherein the second cooking vessel is selected from the group consisting of a stock pot, a paella pan, a saucier pan, a crepe pan and a sauté pan.
 16. An article of cookware according to claim 15 wherein the first cooking vessel is selected from the group consisting of a stock pot, a paella pan, a saucier pan, a crepe pan and a sauté pan.
 17. An article of cookware according to claim 2 wherein said second closure is a lid having drain holes on at least a portion of the surface.
 18. An article of cookware according to claim 17 wherein the drain holes on the surface of said second concave closure is distributed in two portions on opposite sides thereof, one portion containing larger drain holes than the other portion.
 19. An article of cookware according to claim 2 wherein the grip portion of the handle of at least one of the first vessel and second closure is at least one of a closed loop and an open arc.
 20. An article of cookware according to claim 2 wherein each handle has an axis of substantial symmetry that extends in the radial direction with respect to the geometric center of the cooking vessel, wherein a transition region connects the flange and grip portion thereof, the transition region being disposed on one side of the axis of symmetry on the first vessel and on the other each side of the axis of symmetry on the engaging handle of the second closure when engaged therewith.
 21. An article of cookware according to claim 20 wherein the transition region is angularly disposed to elevate the grip region of the handles of at least one of the first vessel and second closure above the rim thereof.
 22. An article of cookware according to claim 21 wherein the transition region is angularly disposed to elevate the grip region of the handles of the first vessels above the rim thereof and the handles of the second closure above the rim thereof. 